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Aundrea Kinney/Review • A school liaison officer was talking with students at Harmony Learning Center in Maplewood Feb. 5 when a child stuck his finger into the officer’s gun holster and pulled the gun’s trigger. The gun fired into the floor but no one was hurt.

No one was hurt by an unintentional gunshot fired Feb. 5 when a third grader pulled the trigger on a police officer’s holstered gun at the Harmony Learning Center, a special education school in Maplewood.

The school liaison officer, a member of the Maplewood Police Department, was sitting on a bench in the school gym around 1:45 p.m. talking with third- and fourth-grade students when one of the children next to the officer stuck his finger into the gun’s holster and pulled the trigger, according to a statement from Maplewood police.

The gun fired through the bottom of the holster and hit the floor. Two adult staff members and four students were present but no one was hurt, police said.

The department-approved level-three security holster has a trigger guard that would typically prevent this from happening, but the child’s finger was small enough to fit inside, the statement said.

“The officer was unaware of the child touching his gun until the weapon discharged,” the statement said.

“I want to assure you that we take the safety of our students and staff very seriously,” said District 622 Superintendent Christine Osorio in a letter addressed to Harmony families about the incident.

A district spokesperson said he was unable to say if the child was disciplined because of privacy laws.

Both the school district and the Maplewood Police Department said they are working together to investigate the incident and the style of holster in an effort to prevent this from happening again.